The Republicans ... have discovered that it is not necessary to hide
your actions. Just lie! It's OK! You can't fool all of the people
all of the time, but you don't have to! That's what democracy is all
about.

It worked for the war
on Iraq. Have you noticed that, these days, the most vocal opponents
of the war are retired military officers (and a few not yet
retired), retired intelligence operatives and former national
security advisers? Have they become traitors overnight? Have they
abandoned the cause of freedom? Or are they finally just fed up? We
welcome them, while noting that we really could have used their help
two years ago.

The Bush response to
detailed critiques? "Support the troops." Yes, the administration is
supporting the troops by getting them killed in a needless war.
Surely people would have put that together. And they have! But it
doesn't matter! Now, you want to talk about your crafty
conspiracies? Why skulk around with coverups when you can carry out
vile plots in the glow of sunlight?

The
Way of the WorldBy Ron
Suskind, August 2008
Senior Bush Administration officials ordered the CIA to forge
a back-dated, handwritten letter from the head of Iraqi intelligence to
Saddam Hussein.Issues raised in this book
include:
a. The origin of the allegedly forged document that formed the basis for
Bush's 2003 State of the Union assertion that Iraq sought yellowcake uranium
from Niger;
b. The role of this document in creating the false impression that 9/11
hijacker Mohammed Atta had a working relationship with Iraq;
c. The relationship between this document and other reported examples of the
Bush Administration considering other deceptive schemes to justify or
provoke war with Iraq, such as the reported consideration of painting a U.S.
aircraft with UN colors in order to provoke Iraq into military
confrontation;
d. Allegations that the Bush Administration deliberately ignored information
from Iraq's chief intelligence officer that Iraq possessed no WMDs;
e. The payment of $5 million to Iraq's chief intelligence officer and his
secret settlement in Jordan, beyond the reach of investigators;
f. The September 2007 detainment and interrogation of Mr. Suskind's research
assistant, Greg Jackson, by federal agents in Manhattan. Jackson's notes
were also confiscated.

McClellan whacks Bush, White House
Former White House Press Secretary writes: Bush relied on "propaganda" to
sell the Iraq war. He admits that some of his own assertions from the
briefing room podium turned out to be “badly misguided.” The longtime Bush
loyalist also suggests that two top aides held a secret West Wing meeting to
get their story straight about the
CIA leak case at a time when federal prosecutors were after them -
and McClellan was continuing to defend them despite mounting evidence they
had not given him all the facts. Politico.com, May 27, 2008

Saddam Hussein had no direct ties to Al Qaida, says Pentagon study
A US military study officially acknowledged
for the first time yesterday that Saddam Hussein had no direct ties to al-Qaida,
undercutting the Bush administration's central case for war with Iraq.
Wary of embarrassing press coverage noting that the new study debunks
those claims, the US defence department attempted to bury the release of
the report yesterday. The Pentagon's independent auditor released a report
last year that chastised an internal military office created by Bush
allies for promoting a link between Hussein and al-Qaida despite
intelligence showing that none existed. The Guardian (UK), March
13, 2008

US Assessments Made in 2003 Foretold Situation in IraqTwo intelligence assessments
from January 2003 predicted that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and
subsequent U.S. occupation of Iraq could lead to internal violence and
provide a boost to Islamic extremists and terrorists in the region,
according to congressional sources and former intelligence officials
familiar with the prewar studies. By Walter Pincus, The Washington Post,
May 20, 2007

When the tyrant has
disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is
nothing more to fear from them, then he is always stirring up
some war or other, in order that the people may require a
leader. --Plato